Off Limits
by because of the name
Summary: "This is wrong, Alex. You know it can't happen. It must not happen." / Alex/Justin with slight Alex/Mason


**Because I'm cool... yeah...**

**Okay, I don't think incest is normal. That's why I didn't dare to go far. This is just an experiment. 'Kay? Kay.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own WoWP.**

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Harper knows her best. They're closest buddies after all – more than friends, even more than sisters. Sometimes the young wizard thinks they're the same person. The same soul separated in two bodies (hers is better, of course).

So it isn't actually surprising when one day her redheaded friend finally confronts her, a determined look on her face.

"Why won't you tell me?"

Alex wiggles her eyebrows playfully and shows her trademark smirk that would mess with anyone's head and make them forget what they're about to say. _But Harper isn't anyone_, she reminds herself sadly.

"Tell you what?"

"Alex, we're best friends…" Okay, the bff speech – We should talk with each other, we were closer before, etc. "We were so much closer before. We should talk more with each other, you know."

"Oh, goody." The taller girl sprawls even more lazily on the couch. "Talk to me, pal."

Harper rolls her eyes.

"I know something's been eating you since some time ago. I can read it on your face. Problems with Mason?"

Alex snorts so carelessly (_so perfectly played_) that Harper immediately feels she got it right.

"Uh no. Everything's fine. We're good. I mean… Yeah."

The redhead smiles with her all-knowing smile and the wizard knows she's busted. _Fuck you, Harper. Just fuck you._ She opens her mouth to say something (_anything_) more but then _her_ phone buzzes (Alex sighs with relief).

"What is it, mom?" The usually kind and cheerful redhead snaps impatiently. "Yeah, yeah, sorry, I was just… I said I was sorry, okay? Wha- Oh, come on! Now? Fine, fine, I'm coming!" She hangs up. "Ughhhh! My mom wants me to go home and help her with some shit!" Alex can't help but giggle, her best friend never (and this means _NEVER_!) swears. But at the same time she's allayed because the dangerous talk is at least postponed.

"Ooh crap!" She resents but she knows Harper doesn't buy it, the happiness is too evident in her voice. "Well, see ya some other time, I guess."

"Yeah, sure." Harper eyes her suspiciously, stands up slowly and walks to the door. She's half out of the apartment when she turns around and calls, "Alex?" It's so quiet that if Alex wasn't straining so desperately her ears, she wouldn't have heard it.

"Mhm?"

"I know you're reproaching yourself but it's not your fault, really. I understand you… I've been there."

The wizard feels her eyes widening and her mouth gaping. She abruptly reverses her head but her friend's nowhere to be found.

She knows it wasn't just mere talk. Harper knew, _like_, really knew. She herself had been in love with _him_ before she started dating Zeke. And **she** supported _her_. As always. Just like best friends are supposed to. But it didn't really make it more painless.

_Or less wrong._ **(A/N: Do you really say 'more painless', 'less wrong'? I hope so.)**

She's giving away herself more than she means to. Her boyfriend suspects something as well. And if a thick-skinned cur (literally) like Mason Greyback can scent (_oh, the irony_) the problem, it means her walls are falling and revealing her… and this is the last thing she wants to happen.

His excessively strong hand is playing with her hair, she hates it. No, she doesn't really, the feeling is good but it's not _right_. He isn't supposed to be the one doing it. But then who is? Her insane object of affection? Please, Alexandra, you know better than that.

"Alex?"

"Yes?"

"I think we should talk."

"Uh oh, this doesn't sound good. Is there something to worry about?" She asks jokingly but her hairs are bristled up and her heart is about to burst, and she is sure as hell he can sense it, _smell _it – he is a half animal, after all.

Mason sighs, his surprisingly slender fingers run through his short setaceous hair.

"What exactly aren't you telling me?"

The brunette turns around and their gazes meet.

"What do you mean?"

"We're so distant from each other. What's going on? Is there another guy?" She's about to ruffle his hair-style and mock his accent or something, but she's too scared it would betray her even more.

"What? No! What makes you think like that?"

"I just don't know. I… I don't want to lose you, Alex."

"You won't!"

"But," He continues, his tone firmer than before, "I don't want you to be unhappy with me, either."

She can't help but laugh at the ridiculousness of all this and he gives her an annoyed look.

"I'm not unhappy with you! Where the hell did you make that up from?"

Mason stands up and suddenly she notes the nervousness on his face.

"I-I'm just…"

_Attacking is the best defense, _Alex remembers and rises in her turn.

"What is it? Are **you** cheating on me?"

Shock is evident in his eyes and she almost regrets saying the latter. Almost.

"What?! No, are you nuts?"

"Did you just call me nuts?"

"No, but-"

"I think you just did!"

"Would you shut up and listen to me?"

"Did you tell me to shut up?!"

Alex knows perfectly how this is going to end. She knows she's making a mountain out of a molehill, she's anticipating an impressive kick-up (_all her fault_), and she's _almost_ looking forward to it. She has no patience to dump him but at the same time she knows she can't afford the luxury of being single. She may not be able to control herself if she leaves Mason tonight. And then she'll hate herself her whole life.

_Because it's fucking wrong._

So she does something she hasn't planned on doing anytime soon. She grabs her yelling boyfriend's face and kisses him hard. She pushes roughly her tongue into his mouth and he weakens, literally melts in her arms. She feels his hands sneak under her shirt and can't restrain her smile despite the whole situation. All the boys can be shut up the same way.

And Mason is no exception.

She comes home later than she usually does. Her parents aren't waiting for her in the living room because they know her well enough – Alex Russo was born to break the rules. She can't help it, this is just how she rolls and they can't even be mad at her for it. So they have decided to put the scolding off for tomorrow and go to bed. However, the light is still on.

The room is occupied by the last person she needs to see.

Justin Russo diligently puts a blank piece of paper between the pages of the book he's reading, and gives his little sister a long and disapproving look.

"What's the time?" He asks coldly.

Alex shrugs carelessly her shoulders.

"Don't know, don't care." _You're doing it right, _She repeats to herself, _you're doing it right._

"It's inappropriate to come home so late." The boy continues.

She can't hold back and growls at him.

"What am I, a nun? Why don't you mind your own damn business?"

"I am just worried about you." He states simply and it makes her heart fucking melt but she doesn't show it. She can't allow herself to show it.

"Well, don't be! I'm old enough to take the consequences."

Justin quirks an eyebrow and Alex realizes that _somewhere_ she's made a mistake.

"I'm not accusing you of anything, Alex. Why are you getting all defensive?"

She opens her mouth to reply something witty but nothing comes to her mind so she just huffs with affected irritation.

"Whatever. I'm going to bed."

The girl is already on half way to the staircase when she hears her brother's low voice.

"Why are you always so mean to me?" It's cracking and unsure, so untypical of him.

Alex stops without turning around. _It's one of those moments_, she thinks. _One of those moments when he makes me break the façades and treat him right… like he deserves to be treated. _

"I'm not mean to you." She answers still not facing him. 'This is just the normal me."

"No, it's not. You're nastier than before. I'm sick of it. What have I done to you?"

The apology is on the tip of her tongue. She's about to burst into tears and run to him, tell him she loves him with all her heart and kiss him passionately and... But that's not what sisters are supposed to do. So she spills a venomous "You're such a pansy" and goes upstairs.

And when the heavy door of her room closes, she buries her face in her pillows and cries herself to sleep.

They don't talk the morning after. Justin doesn't seem offended or oppressed but Alex is simply crushed. She feels like the biggest bitch on Earth so after breakfast she returns to her room and spends all Saturday morning in her bed, stuffing herself with gummy bears and listening to depressing music. Her eyes are boring into the ceiling and she doesn't really have a particular occupation so she starts thinking. And God, she just _hates_ thinking.

Despite being all irrational and reckless, Alex Russo had decided that with one thing she'd wait. She'd broken her promise the previous night and now she's mad about it. Mad at herself.

Despite thinking that public opinion is just fudge, Alex Russo had always obeyed the usual tip "Don't rush with sex". She really wanted it to be with someone special. It's not that Mason wasn't but there is somebody thousand times more special than him.

She squeezes her eyes shut.

_This is so, so wrong. And it will never be accepted. It isn't **supposed** to be accepted. _

Still, she can't help but dream about it.

_Gosh, I've already earned my place in Hell._

**…**

At 2 pm someone finally knocks on her door. And Alex feels simultaneously relieved (because thinking is slowly killing her) and annoyed. And she internally begs: _Please, Justin, if it's you, just don't (__**do**__) enter._

It's Max, her younger brother. He comes in, a carefree expression on his still childish face. "Hey, Alex." He grins like an idiot (_just like the idiot he is_, she thinks without malice). "What's up?"

"Not me." She snorts impatiently, pointing at the pajamas she's still wearing. "So you better leave quickly."

"Okie dokie." He doesn't pay attention to the spite in her tone, he's so not the touchy type. "Just wanted to ask you if you knew where Captain Jim Bob Sherwood's figurine was."

"Captain Jim Bo… Wait, isn't that one of Justin's stupid dolls?" She actually thinks it's cute _he_'s such a nerd… but of course, she can't tell that to anyone.

"Yup." Max's grin is suddenly not so goofy anymore. "I bet he'll freak out when he notices it's gone. And I'm sure you know where he keeps his collection."

"Wha- What does that mean?" Alex quirks an eyebrow.

"Well, you know his room maybe better than Justin himself." She freezes for a second realizing he's right. "I mean, you're there all the time… planning your pranks and schemes. Unlike Justin who's such a prim. That's why you're my favorite sibling." The boy smiles so sweetly that his sister forgets for a second the little devil he is. "But don't tell him, 'kay?"

"Oh, I'm sure he knows it." She smirks proudly. "I mean, come on, who'll choose him when I'm around?"

Max nods and winks at her conspiratorially. "So you gonna tell me?"

"Sure, I will." She responds.

Maybe someday all the pranks she torments her big brother with, will really satisfy her.

But not anytime soon.

**…**

At 3:15 pm Justin enters her room. Without knocking. And he's furious.

"Okay, where is it?!" He growls but the trembling in his voice gives him out; he either wants to cry or shout… or both.

Alex gasps a bit because his face is suddenly too close to hers and he's too mad to notice it. She feels the blood rushing to her head and her vision getting blurry. "I-I…" She mutters foolishly then manages to regain herself. "What are you talking about?"

"You know damn well what I am talking about!" To hear Justin swearing is even more impossible than to hear Harper doing it. And if his minty breath wasn't hitting her lips and his big green eyes (_ohmigod, they're so green_) burning hers, she could have mocked him hard about it. "Where is Captain Jim Bob Sherwood?!"

Alex inhales deeply and finally draws back a bit. "I don't know." She answers briefly, still a bit dizzy, no snide remark coming into mind.

"Of course you know, you always do! Every time when something bad happens to me or something mine is missing or something's fucking wrong with my wretched life, you're involved!"

It hurts her more than she's ever imagined it would. It pierces right through her heart and before she realizes, she's throwing gummy bears at him and screaming from the top of her lungs.

"I didn't do anything, you fucking hear me?! Why do you always have to blame me when something's wrong? It's so convenient, isn't it? Alex is always guilty for whatever happens on this planet! The global warming, whales' extinction, world crisis – let's accuse Alex of all of it!"

Justin is taken aback a bit and just stares at her for good two minutes then he starts yelling in response. "Okay, now you're just overreacting, I didn't say any of this! But I'm hundred percent sure you have to do something with Captain Jim Bob Sherwood disappearing so don't try to make me feel guilty and just admit it-"

Minutes later, both of them are outshouting each other, neither of them listening to the other or even to themselves. Alex's lazy and unruffled persona is gone, she's on her feet by now and her surprisingly strong hands shaking her brother like a doll. Justin can't afford using force on his little sister but he compensates it with bawling her out so loudly that his chest is aching. And the weirdest part is that nobody actually pays attention to the noise and comes to see what the hell is going on.

Suddenly in her rage Alex pushes her brother. Hard. And in his tries to keep his balance he drags her down with him.

Justin lands painfully on his back, Alex right on top of him. Her chin bumps against his firm thorax and she's sure this will leave a bruise. The girl lifts carefully her head only to come face to face with her brother's worried expression. This is the closest she's been to him, their eyes locked, their noses almost touching, their lips almost brushing. And it's all so tempting that it burns her throat, it hurts her physically. She sees his cheeks flushing and his teeth unconsciously biting his lower lip.

Pain and guilt suddenly overwhelm her and Alex jumps back so out of nowhere that she almost bumps her back into the wall. Justin just stays unmoving, his elbows resting on the ground, and watches her with an unreadable face. The following silence is long and awkward and just when the boy is about to stand up and leave the room the fastest way possible, she utters.

"I slept with Mason." She doesn't know why she even says that and she immediately regrets it. With the corner of her eye, she observes her brother's mien that varies from disbelief to disappointment. And probably it's just her imagination but she thinks jealousy is one of the emotions readable on his face, too.

"So that's why you've been so edgy since last night." He finally retorts, his voice oddly low and callous.

"Yeah." She murmurs, not sure what else to say.

"Well…" He waits a bit then realizes she's not about to continue, and asks. "Why did you do it?"

She bites her lip hard, desperately trying not to burst into tears. "I don't know." Her voice is so husky that she almost can't hear it.

The unbearable silence is audible once again. Alex is about to go crazy. "Don't be sorry." She finally hears him speak. "He's your boyfriend after all. It had to happen sooner or later."

"No, it didn't!" She interrupts him, starting to get angry. "At least not like that. Not with him." She practically whispers the last.

He sighs heavily and she is aware that he _knows_. Maybe he knew before Harper, even before Alex herself… And she probably has to be embarrassed, ashamed, crushed… but actually her whole body is numb. Her heart is empty and it gets colder and colder with each second passing.

"This is wrong, Alex. You know it can't happen. It must not happen." He pronounces and he sounds like his words cause him physical pain.

She nods slightly. "I know."

"Some limits just aren't meant to be crossed."

Another nod. "I know."

Justin slowly stands up as if he's afraid his legs would betray him and even more slowly makes his way towards her. He doesn't say another word, just quietly observes her head.

"Max took your figurine." She eventually admits. "He asked me where it was and I told him."

He nods in return and even though she can't see him, he knows she somehow foreknows his actions. "Thanks." He stretches his hand to tap her shoulder but suddenly she looks right at him and slightly shakes her head.

"No."

Justin sighs understandingly, his hand awkwardly falls back to his body and then he finally leaves the room.

She pulls her legs in and hugs them. Her heart fucking aches but she knows she's done the right thing. Justin was right; some limits just weren't meant to be crossed. It would all go away someday (_Who is she lying to, she knows it won't_). She'll forget (_no, she won't_) and be happy with somebody else (_no, she __**fucking**__ won't!)._ Maybe she'll even learn to love Mason again because there was a time she really did.

And maybe she'll get her place in Heaven back somehow.

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**Yay, I'm officially insane, thank you very much.**

**Review? :3**


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